Battle of Cape Lopez

The Battle of Cape Lopez (5-10 February 1722) occurred when the Royal Navy ship HMS Swallow, commanded by Chandler Ogle, hunted down the feared pirate Bartholomew Roberts to Cape Lopez, off the coast of West Africa, and killed him after an intense battle. The most often-accepted account claims that the Swallow had captured Roberts' ship Ranger on 5 February 1722 after luring the ship in while posing as a merchant ship, killing 10 people. The Swallow returned to Cape Lopez five days later to find that Robert's flagship, the Royal Fortune, was still there, and the Swallow delivered powerful grapeshot broadsides as the Royal Fortune attempted to escape. Roberts was killed by grapeshot, and 272 of his men were captured; the 65 Africans were sold into slavery, 52 prisoners were hanged, 2 were reprieved, 20 became indentured servants to the Royal African Company, and 17 were imprisoned in London.

However, another account of the battle stated that the Royal Fortune had instead been anchored off Principe, in the same region. The pirate Edward Kenway, who had previously been turned in to the British authorities in Port Royal, Jamaica for a bounty by Roberts, sailed to Principe aboard the Jackdaw and attempted to kill Roberts at the fort of Santo Antonio. However, Roberts detected him and fled aboard his ship, and he was ambushed by the Royal Navy frigates HMS Athena and HMS Duke and the Spanish Navy frigates Falcon Blanco Mayor and Hermione as the Jackdaw pursued him. The Royal Fortune was incapacitated by the Jackdaw in the ensuing fight, and Kenway killed Roberts on the deck of his ship. Roberts had Kenway throw him over the side to prevent his enemies from capturing his body, and Kenway proceeded to escape.